Sergio Leone proudly served up his finest Spaghetti Western to a Roman audience in the final days of 1966. The premiere print of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" sprawled over three hours in telling its tale of three desperados in search of gold amidst the chaos of the Civil War. Leone, a volatile Italian who brought his sensibilities as an art … [Read more...]
‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ on DVD
"This is terrible," Walt Disney said. It was 1954, and the master of animation had just gotten his first look at the giant silly squid that was about to eat his studio. Director Richard Fleischer was equally mortified as the men watched dailies from the Disney shop's first live-action film, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." "So much was … [Read more...]
‘Spirited Away’: Miyazaki meets Disney
The union of showbiz superpower Disney and Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki would seem a case of strange bedfellows. The Walt Disney Co., the mass producer of children's entertainment. Miyazaki, the painstaking auteur behind "Princess Mononoke." Disney, the house of happy endings and familiar themes. Miyazaki, the creator of films … [Read more...]
DVD review: ‘Sunset Blvd.’
"There's nothing tragic about being 50," gigolo Joe Gillis tells the freshly face-lifted Norma Desmond in "Sunset Blvd." For once, Gillis gets it right. Certainly nothing wrong with being 50 if you happen to look as good as Paramount's restored version of Billy Wilder's creepy Hollywood classic. Filmed on unstable silver nitrate, the 1950 … [Read more...]
‘Waking Life’: Linklater’s ani adventure
Sartre meets slackers in Richard Linklater's "Waking Life," a terrific film of ideas that's perfectly matched with the DVD format. The animated meditation on dreams and man's place in the universe moves so quickly -- and in so many visual styles -- that viewers barely have time to absorb one concept before another comes rushing in. The pause and … [Read more...]
